


Australia

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 15:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3492980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin left for Australia with Haru and never told Nitori where he was going.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Australia

It had already been two weeks of waiting before he called. The phone rang once, twice, with a dejected Nitori left to stare at the screen. The light lit up his whole bunk as well as succeeded in waking his cheerful roommate, and soon that orange tuft of hair was peeking onto Nitori's bunk. "Ai senpai, is that your phone?"

"Yeah," Nitori mumbled. He slid his thumb across the screen, placed the phone to his ear. He placed a finger to his lips to tell Momo to be quiet; the man on the other side of the phone was quiet, shy.

"Oh god Nitori, hi," whispered the man. He seemed to be out of breath, but from what?

"Hi," Ai replied simply. He twirled a strand of silver hair between his fingers and chewed his lip nervously. He wasn't sure he was ready for the news he was sure to receive.

"I didn't expect you to pick up," he explained in a somewhat louder voice. Fiddling on the other side of the phone made Nitori fidget uncomfortably. He crawled down from his bunk and instead settled himself in a desk chair. Momo watched him intently.

"Is that Rin senpai?" Momo asked. He tried to quiet his voice as much as possible, but still the cheerful ball of energy's voice echoed against the walls. Nitori just nodded in response. His voice seemed to be broken at the moment and the only person he wanted to talk to was Rin, but the only person he didn't want to even acknowledge was Rin.

"Nitori, were you sleeping?" the redhead asked. "I'm sorry, I totally forgot about the time zones--"

"Senpai," Ai murmured into the phone. Rin's voice stopped chattering. "When are you coming back?"

"Ah, well..." Nitori could almost hear him rubbing his neck in that sheepish way he did when he had bad news. "Thing is, Ai, I don't think I'm coming back."

"Oh." If he spoke any more than that, his voice would snap in half. It felt as though someone had sat on his ribs. His breath was gone and not to return for a while. Momo noticed the pity in his eyes and offered his hand, which Nitori gladly set the phone in.

"Rin senpai," Momo said brightly. 'Bless his heart, he's so cheerful,' Nitori thought. 'Why can't I be him?'

"Momo?" Rin questioned. The orange-haired goofball nodded though his senpai couldn't see him.

"Yup! Ai senpai is really tired, so he's going to bed! Is it okay if we talk instead?"

"Actually Momo, I really need to talk to Nitori right now..."

Momo glanced over at Nitori. Said boy's knees were tucked into his chest. His head rested on top of his knees and tears brimmed in his eyes. "Okay...but he might not talk much."

"That's okay. I just want him to listen."

Momo handed Ai the phone. He was reluctant to take it, so the younger practically forced it into his hand. With a soft, shaky sigh, Nitori placed the phone to his ear once more.

"Nitori? Nitori, are you there?"

"Yeah," Ai whispered meekly. He shifted in the desk chair so he was sitting cross-legged.

"Please just hear me out," Rin took a deep breath. "I miss you. I really do. I was planning on coming back, but Haru is having trouble adjusting, and he hasn't found out what he's going to do with himself in the future. It's important, you know?"

'And I'm not?' Nitori thought stubbornly. Still, he didn't interrupt his senpai, no matter how much his heart stung. Rin took the silence as a sign to continue and continue he did. "Haru says hello, by the way. Anyways, I think I might just have Sousuke ship my things. He's still around, right? Do you think you could help him pack?"

Ai had tears running down his face by now. 'Now I'm just someone to help him pack his things to get away?'

"Nitori? Please, I can count on you, right?"

"I..."

"Thank you, really. I have to go now. Haru and I are going to the pool. Goodbye, Nitori." The other side of the phone clicked and Nitori dropped his phone. It landed on the floor with a dull thud. Momo gave him a look of empathy and offered a weak smile.

"My bed's always open, if you want to sleep with me." Both boys had learned soon into their friendship that they enjoyed sharing a bed when they were upset, and it didn't bother either of them to stay like that. So Nitori stumbled his way across the room and crawled onto Momo's bed.

As soon as he laid down Momo pulled the blanket over him. Nitori's tears stained the pillows and his cheeks. Momo wrapped his arms around the boy and rubbed his back slowly. "It's alright, Ai senpai...he's just busy."

"He's always busy," Nitori whispered. "Busy with Haruka senpai."

"Do you think he's cheating on you?"

"I have for a while. He took him to Australia!" Ai cried, his whole frame shaking as he sobbed onto Momo's shoulder.

"I'm sure he's got a reason," the boy said, though he was unsure. His voice was too quiet for him to know for sure that Rin had a reason.

For all he knew, Rin really would never return, and he would be left to care for Nitori, left to glue all the pieces back together that Rin scattered.

~three weeks prior~

Rin slammed the dorm room door open. Sousuke was gone, so was Nitori. Most of the time Nitori would come into their room and talk with Sousuke until Rin returned, then Sousuke would go take a jog or something to leave the two to their privacy. Today, however, was different.

He reached into the closet and pulled out a duffel bag, mindlessly throwing clothes inside. He even almost threw one of Nitori's shirts in accidentally, the one with a small shark on the front. He remembered when Nitori had first worn that shirt, how he'd said it reminded him of his favorite shark senpai, how Rin had teased him and said he wasn't that small. A small pang hit his heart like a hammer as he finished stuffing his bag to the brim.

Rin set his bag by the door and searched around for his phone. He slid it into his pocket once he found it and grabbed his phone charger as well, shoving it into a pocket of his bag. He checked his phone once; one missed call from Haru, two texts from Nitori. He called Haru back and decided to text Nitori back when he was on the plane.

The one part of his plan of leaving in the middle of the night that went unnoticed was the small, silver-haired boy peeking outside his dorm room door, on his way to go give Rin a good night kiss.

~present time~

Nitori woke up in the morning with a searing headache. He groaned and rubbed his forehead as he rolled over. Momo apologized quickly for the bright light filling the room and closed the blinds in a hurry. Ai smiled weakly at him. "What happened last night?"

"You cried yourself to sleep again," Momo replied in a quiet voice. "You had me so worried, Ai senpai." It was then that Nitori spotted a bag slung across Momo's shoulders.

"Where are you going?" Nitori asked, worry evident in his voice.

Momo looked down at his bag. "Oh? I'm not going anywhere. I just got back, actually." He tossed Nitori a small box and Nitori sat up to catch it. "I got you a little something to eat, since you skipped dinner the past three nights now."

"Oh, thank you," Ai smiled weakly down at the small treat in his hand. He then smiled up at Momo. "You really didn't have to. Thank you very much."

"Don't mention it," Momo waved off his thanks. "Anyways, do you want to go back to the pool today? It's been a while since you've been down there."

Nitori looked down at the box in his hands once more. "I'm not sure that I want to go down there."

"Are you sure?" Momo asked, setting his bag aside as he walked over to the bed and sat down. "I'm sure it'll help you clear your mind. Plus it would be relaxing for you to get out of this dorm room."

"You're going to keep bothering me about going to the pool, aren't you?" Ai sighed. He set the box aside and stood up, stretching his arms and legs.

"A little," Momo teased. He pulled off his sweatpants to reveal his swimsuit and grinned a cheesy grin. "I knew you would say yes!"

Nitori just giggled at him as he searched the room for his suit. Momo waited out in the hallway for him as he changed, and when Nitori rejoined him, the two raced their way to the pool.

The two barely stopped in the shower room to rinse off. They only wetted their hair before running past the locker room. Their shoes were kicked aside and Nitori was running towards the pool, the bright lights of the room exciting him, when a hand wrapped around his waist and pulled him close.

Nitori blinked and looked up. The first thing he spotted was the man's red eyes on his. His heart about melted seeing the smile creasing his eyes; he didn't even have to see Rin's shark teeth to know how happy he was. Nitori didn't know he would be moved to tears until they slid down his cheeks and Rin tenderly wiped them away with his thumb. Rin was whispering his name, ever so carefully, as if in anyone else heard the moment would be spoiled.

"R-Rin senpai," Ai whispered. So many emotions swirled through his head: anger, jealousy, lust, sadness, but all were nothing compared to the joy he felt. A large smile spread itself onto his face and he buried his face in Rin's shirt, tears leaving dark stains on it.

After a bit of time Nitori pulled back and sniffed quietly. "Sorry for your shirt," he whispered, a smile still overtaking his face.

"Don't worry about it, Nitori. How are you?"

That's when all his feelings returned. In one blur of movement Nitori shoved Rin back, hard, making Momo gasp and Rin stumble. "What the hell, senpai?!" Ai growled. "Leaving in the middle of the night with Haruka senpai, only calling once?" Tears of anger and sadness budded in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. "What the hell?"

"Nitori, I..."

"Then you want me to pack the rest of your things for you so you can spend more time with your precious Haruka senpai?! Just go back to Australia!" Ai turned on his heel and stormed out of the pool area, back to the locker rooms, before the tears started falling down his cheeks more freely. His quiet sobs echoed off the walls of the locker room and came back to slap him in the face.

"Ai senpai," Momo called out. Nitori jumped when a new voice joined the room. He tried his best to clean up his face of the tears staining his cheeks. The orange hair peeked around the corner and gave him a feeble smile. "You know, I was trying so hard to keep this a secret. I almost told you last night when you were so sad, but I just couldn't. Senpai made me promise not to say a word."

"Wh-what? You knew?" Ai's voice cracked. He slowly stumbled to his feet as Rin's red hair made an appearance as well.

"I got back late last night," Rin explained softly. "Haru left about a week ago. I wanted to surprise you."

"Then why did you say all those horrible things?" Nitori whimpered. Rin took a step towards the boy.

"I was in a rush to get to the dorm room. I was originally going to visit last night, but Momo texted me telling me I should wait."

Nitori was quiet. He hung his head and a severed laugh echoed on the lockers. "You make me feel like the bad guy."

"No. I'm the one at fault here, Nitori. Don't get upset with yourself." Rin crossed the room, holding Nitori around the waist. The last of Ai's tears landed on Rin's shirt.

"I missed you so much," Nitori whispered.

"I missed you too," Rin replied softly.

Momo smiled at the two. "Ew, it's so sweet I can taste it. Ai senpai, I'm going back to our room. I'm guessing you'll be spending the night with Rin senpai?" he winked, then walked out of the room, leaving the two extremely flustered.

"Will you spend the night with me, Nitori?" Rin asked softly. Ai glanced up at him with a small smile on his face.

"I would love to, senpai."

~two months later~

"Hurry up, Nitori!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Momo, do you have the last bag?"

"Don't worry about that! You'll be late for the plane! I've got this under control!"

The group of three ran through the airport. One accidental push of the snooze button on the alarm clock seemed to have almost cost Rin and Nitori their trip. With Momo's help, however, the two had managed to make it to the airport with ten minutes to find their plane and board. As the interesting couple found their flight number and scanned their tickets, a loud voice boomed over the speakers: "11 am flight to Australia will be taking off in fifteen minutes."

Nitori and Rin ran through the hallway to the plane, giggling and stumbling over their feet. They made it onto the plane with five minutes to spare, finding their seats quickly. The plane was nearly full, so the two were surprised to find they had an empty seat next to them. "Rin senpai, can I take the window seat?" Nitori asked shyly.

"We can both have the window seat," Rin replied with a shrug. Nitori gave him a confused look and Rin hoisted the boy into his lap despite his weak complaints.

"Senpai, this is unsafe," Nitori mumbled, a bright blush on his cheeks as other passengers started to notice what was going on.

"Then we'll wait until we're free to move about the cabin," Rin smiled. The plane door shut and Rin let Nitori out of his lap so he could buckle into his own seat.

After takeoff, many of the other passengers had went about doing other things. Nitori glanced over at Rin. "I suppose the other passengers are too engulfed in themselves to care what we're doing," he mumbled with a blush. Rin chuckled and unbuckled his belt, patting his lap.

"Come here then."

Nitori crawled into his lap and faced him, giggling softly. "I love you, senpai."

"I love you too, Ai."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! I hope you enjoyed!  
> ~Kurokocchi


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